Chapter 9 Understanding Individual Behaviour PDF

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Chapter 9 Understanding Individual Behaviour 9.1 Identify the focus and goals of organisational behaviour  Behaviour: how people act  Organisational Behaviour: a field of study concerned with the actions at work - a challenge with understanding organisational behaviour is seeing not just the visible aspects of the organisation (strategies, goals, policies and procedures, structure, technology, formal authority, chain of command) but also understanding the hidden aspects (attitudes, perceptions, group norms, informal interactions, interpersonal and intergroup conflict) Focus of organisational behaviour:  Individual behaviour - attitudes - personality - perception - learning - motivation  Group behaviour - norms - roles - team building - leadership - conflict Goals of Organisational Behaviour  to explain, predict and influence behaviour - managers need to be able to explain why employees engage in some behaviours rather than others, to predict how employees will respond to various actions the manager might take, and to influence how employees behave 9.2 Define the six important employee behaviours that managers want to explain, predict and influence What employee behaviour are we specifically concerned about explaining, predicting and influencing? 1. Employee Productivity - is a performance measure of both efficiency and effectiveness - managers want to know what factors improve employee efficiency and effectiveness 2. Absenteeism - is the failure to report to work - although absenteeism can never be totally eliminated, excessive levels will have a direct and immediate impact on the organisation’s functioning 3. Turnover - is the voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal from an organisation - this causes increased recruiting, selection, training costs and work disruption

- managers want to try minimise this 4. Organisational Citizenship Behaviour - is discretionary behaviour that is not part of an employee’s formal job requirements, but which promotes the effective functioning of the organisation. E.g. helping others on one’s work team; volunteering for extended job activities; avoiding unnecessary conflict - drawbacks of OCB: employees may experience work overload, stress and work-family conflict 5. Job satisfaction - refers to an employee’s general attitude towards his or her job 6. Workplace misbehaviour - is any intentional employee behaviour that has negative consequences for the organisation or individuals within the organisation. - Four ways: deviance, aggression, anti social behaviour and violence e.g. playing loud music to irritate others; verbally abusing customers There are, however, four psychological factors – employee attitudes, personality, perception and learning – which can help predict and explain these six employee behaviours 9.3 Explain the role that attitudes play in job performance  Attitudes: are evaluative statements – either favourable or unfavourableconcerning objects, people or events. They reflect how an individual feels about something  Made up of three components: - cognition: cognition component of an attitude refers to the beliefs, opinions, knowledge and info held by a person e.g. discrimination is wrong - affective: affective component of an attitude is its emotional/feeling part e.g. dislike someone who discriminates against women - behavioural: behavioural component of an attitude refers to an intention to behave in a certain way towards someone or something e.g. avoid someone because they discriminate against women  attitude usually refers only to the affective component  managers are interested in job related attitudes – job satisfaction; involvement; organisational commitment and employee engagement Job Satisfaction  refers to a person’s general attitude towards their job  a person with a high level of job satisfaction has a positive attitude towards their job, while a person who is dissatisfied with their job has a negative attitude  job autonomy, regular meetings between mgmt. and staff that induced them to interact and cooperate, as well as the existence of semi autonomous work groups – important factors that were positively associated with job satisfaction  common reasons for job dissatisfaction: in their work life balance; working long hours; work pressure  global recession affected job satisfaction e.g. many people worked for unpaid overtime which was however not recognised/appreciated

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job satisfaction tends to increase as income increases. - Also, more advanced skills, give job holders greater responsibilities, are more stimulating, provide more challenges and allow workers more control = income increase/ increase job satisfaction  Satisfaction and productivity - managers generally assume that satisfied employees = working hard = productivity - it is found that the correlation between satisfaction and productivity is fairly strong  Satisfaction and absenteeism - there is not a strong correlation that satisfied employees have lower levels of absenteeism than dissatisfied employees because managers must consider other factors e.g. organisations may provide sick leave benefits encouraging employees to take sick days off (including those highly satisfied)  Satisfaction and turnover - correlation between satisfaction and turnover is strong - satisfied employees have lower levels of turnover, while dissatisfied employees have higher levels of turnover - other factors however also affect turnover – labour market conditions; expectations about alternative job opportunities; length of employment with the organisation - organisations try to keep high performers by pay rises, praise, recognition and increased promotion = decrease of turnover  Job satisfaction and customer satisfaction - satisfied employees increase customer satisfaction and loyalty - satisfied employees are more likely to be friendly, upbeat and responsive which customers appreciate - also satisfied employees are less likely to quit, so customers are more likely to encounter familiar faces and receive experienced service – satisfaction and loyalty  Job satisfaction and organisational citizenship behaviour - Moderate relationship between job satisfaction and OCB - satisfied employees would seem more likely to talk positively about the organisation, help others and go above and beyond normal job expectations - but relationship between the two is tempered by perceptions of fairness – basically if you do not feel as though your supervisor, organisational procedures or pay policies are fair, your job satisfaction is likely to suffer. If you perceive it as fair = trust employer =more willing to engage voluntarily in behaviours - in work groups with low group level OCB, any individual in that group who engages in OCB is likely to have higher job performance ratings e.g. because they want to ‘stand out’  Job satisfaction and workplace misbehaviour - workplace misbehaviour is a result of job dissatisfaction and thus dissatisfaction must be targeted and fixed. Job Involvement and Organisational Commitment

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job involvement is the degree to which an employee identifies with his or her job, actively participates in it, and considers his or her job performance to be important to his or her self worth employees with high job involvement strongly identifies with and really cares about the kind of work they do – positive attitudes = fewer absences, lower resignation rates, and higher employee engagement with their work Organisational Commitment: is the degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organisation and its goals, and wishes to maintain membership in the organisation organisational commitment leads to lower levels of both absenteeism and turnover and is a better indicator of turnover than job satisfaction however changing attitudes alter the importance of organisational commitment – as employees do not generally stay with a single organisation for most of their career and the relationship they have with their employer has changed considerably perceived organisational support- employees’ general belief that their organisation values their contribution and cares about their well being – shows that the commitment of the organisation to the employee can be beneficial

Employee Engagement  employee engagement – employees being connected to, satisfied with and enthusiastic about their jobs  highly engaged employees are passionate about and deeply connected to their work  disengaged employees have essentially ‘checked out’ and do not care  highly engaged employees are two and a half times more likely to be top performers than their less engage co workers  highly engaged employees have higher retention rates which keeps recruiting and training costs low. [ higher performance, lower costs] Attitudes and Consistency  people seek consistency among their attitudes and between their attitudes and behaviour – individuals try to reconcile differing attitudes and align their attitudes and behaviour so they appear rational and consistent  when there is inconsistency, they will take steps to make it consistent by altering their attitudes or behaviour, or by developing and rationalisation for the inconsistency  Cognitive Dissonance Theory - seeks to explain the relationship between attitudes and behaviour - cognitive dissonance is any incompatibility or inconsistency between attitudes or between behaviour and attitudes - theory argues that any form of inconsistency is uncomfortable and that individuals will try to reduce the dissonance and, thus, the discomfort - the theory proposes that dissonance is determined by three things 1) the importance of the factors creating the dissonance - if factors creating the dissonance are relatively unimportant, the pressure to correct the imbalance will be low

2) the degree of influence the individuals believes he or she has over those factors - if they perceive the dissonance to be uncontrollable they are unlikely to be receptive to attitude change or to feel a need to do so 3) the rewards that may be involved in dissonance - coupling dissonance with high rewards tends to reduce the discomfort inherent in the dissonance, by motivating the individual to believe that there is consistency Attitude Surveys  attitude surveys present the employee with a set of statements or questions eliciting how they feel about their jobs, work groups, managers or the organisation  designed to obtain info on issues such as job satisfaction, morale, trust, availability and quality of training, job security and pay  an attitude score is achieved by summing up responses to individual questionnaire items  provide valuable feedback on how employees perceive their working conditions by using attitude surveys on a regular basis. It helps managers see that policies and practices they view as objective and fair may be seen as inequitable by employees in general, or by certain groups or employees  can alert employers of problems and employee intentions Implications for Managers  managers should be interested in employee’s attitudes as attitudes give warning of potential problems and influence behaviour  providing flexible work options, monetary incentives and mgmt. support programs such as leadership training and internal career opportunities may be options managers want to contemplate to keep talented employees engaged in order to retain their services  should focus on factors that are conducive to high level employee job satisfaction: making work challenging and interesting, providing equitable rewards, and creating supportive working conditions and supportive colleagues 9.4 Describe the various personality theories  Personality: is the unique combination of emotional, thought and behavioural patterns that affect how a person reacts and interacts with others. It affects how an why people behave the way they do  Approaches to classifying personality traits: Myer-Briggs Type Indicator  A personality model using four different dimensions as a base for a description of 16 personality types 1. Social Interaction (Extrovert or Introvert) - extrovert: outgoing, dominant, aggressive, wants to change the world, need to work in environments with variation and that are action orientated

introvert: shy, withdrawn, focuses on understanding the world, prefer working in environments that are quiet, concentrated allowing them to be alone and explore a limited set of experiences 2. Preference for gathering data (sensing or intuitive) - sensing: dislike new problems, established routine, high need for closure, show patience with routine detail and tend to be good at precise work - intuitive: like solving new problems, dislike doing the same thing over and over, jump to conclusions, are impatient with routine and detail, dislike taking time for precision 3. Preference for decision making (feeling or thinking) - feeling: rely on their personal values and emotions; aware of other people and their feelings; like harmony; need occasional praise, dislike telling people unpleasant things, tend to be sympathetic and relate well to others - thinking: use reason and logic; unemotional and uninterested in people’s feelings; like analysis and putting things into logical order 4. Style of making decisions (perceptive or judgemental) - perceptive: curious, spontaneous, flexible, adaptable and tolerant - judging: want control and prefer their world to be ordered and structured  managers must realise that personality types influence the way people interact and solve problems  it helps managers select employees who are well matched to certain types of jobs  criticised as it lacks evidence to support its validity -

The Big Five Model - EACEI  five factor model of personality 1. Extroversion: the degree to which someone is sociable, talkative, assertive and comfortable in relationships with others 2. Agreeableness: the degree to which someone is good-natured, cooperative and trusting 3. Conscientiousness: the degree to which someone is responsible, dependable, persistent and achievement orientated 4. Emotional Stability: the degree to which someone has a wide range of interests and is imaginative, fascinated with novelty, artistically sensitive and intellectual 5. Openness to experience: the degree to which someone has a wide range of interests and is imaginative, fascinated with novelty, artistically sensitive and intellectual  Relationships exist between these personality dimensions and job performance e.g. in a study of 5 occupations, conscientiousness predicted job performance for all five groups. Predictions for the other personality dimensions depended on the situation on the occupational group e.g. openness to experience was found to be important in predicting training competencies Additional Personality Traits

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Personality researches have identified give other personality traits that have proved to be the most powerful in explaining individual behaviour in organisations 1. Locus of Control - a personality attribute that reflects the degree to which people believe they control their own fate - internal: believe they control their own destiny - external: believed their lives are controlled by outside forces; tend to be less satisfied with their job, more alienated from the work setting, less involved in their job 2. Machiavellianism - a measure of the degree to which people are pragmatic, maintain emotional distance and believe that ends can justify means - high Mach perspective: “if it works, use it”; “I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to get ahead” - in jobs that require bargaining skills or have substantial rewards for winning, high Machs can be productive 3. Self Esteem - an individual’s degree of like or dislike for himself or herself - high SE: believe they possess the ability they need in order to succeed at work; take more risks in job selections; more likely to choose unconventional jobs; more satisfied with their jobs - low SE: more susceptible to external influence; dependent on receiving positive evaluations from others; seek approval from others; more prone to conform to the beliefs and behaviours of those they respect; less likely to take unpopular stands 4. Self Monitoring - a personality trait that measures an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behaviour to external, situational factors - high self monitoring: adaptable in adjusting their behaviours to different situations; capable of presenting striking contradictions between their public persona and their private selves; pay closer attention to the behaviours of others; flexible; more mobile in their careers, receive more promotions, successful in managerial positions that require them to play multiple roles; engage in impression mgmt. (when individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them) - low self monitoring: cannot adjust their behaviour; tend to display their true dispositions and attitudes in every situation 5. Risk taking - people differ in their willingness to take chances - differences in the propensity to assume or to avoid risk have been shown to affect how long it takes managers to make a decision and how much info the quire before making their choice - high risk taking managers: take less time and less info in making decisions; but may prove as a major obstacle to accountants auditing fin statements - to maximise organisational effectiveness, managers should try to align employee risk taking propensity with specific job demands 6. Other Personality Traits

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proactive personality: describes people who identify opportunities, show initiative, take action and persevere until meaningful change occurs – seen as leaders, change agents, they challenge the status quo, entrepreneurial abilities, achieve career success resilience: individual’s ability to overcome challenges and turn them into opportunities – adaptable, flexible, goal focused

Personality Types in Different National Cultures  Big Five Model appears in almost all cross cultural studies  Differences are found in the emphasis on dimensions e.g. the Chinese use conscientiousness more often than e.g. agreeableness. High amount of agreeableness especially among individuals from developed countries  A country’s culture influences the dominant personality characteristic of its people Emotions and Emotional Intelligence  Emotions: are intense feelings that are directed at someone or something – they are object specific, that is, emotions are reactions to an object  Six universal emotions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust and surprise  People respond differently to identical emotion provoking stimuli. In some cases, this can be attributed to the individual’s personality because people vary in their inherent ability to express emotions  However, at other times, how people respond is a result of job requirements e.g. fire fighters must be calm and controlled even in stressful situations  Emotional intelligence: the ability to notice and manage emotional cues and info. Composed of 5 dimensions 1. self awareness: being aware of what you are feeling 2. self management: being able to manage your emotions and impulses 3. self motivation: being able to persist in the face of setbacks and failures 4. empathy: being aware of how others are feeling 5. social skills: being able to handle the emotions of others Implications for Managers  main value in understanding personality differences lie in employee selection, which is demonstrated by the number of organisations today that use personality tests when recruiting  managers are likely to have higher performing and more satisfied employees if consideration is given to matching personalities with jobs  John Holland: theory states that employee’s job satisfaction as well as his/her likelihood to quit, depend on the degree to which the individual’s personality matches the occupational environment. He identified 6 basic personality types Type Personality Sample Occupations Characteristic Shy, genuine, stable, Mechanic, drill press Realistic: prefer operator, assembly line physical activities that conforming, practical worker, farmer require skill, strength and coordination Investigative: prefers Analytical, original, Biologist, e...